Valuable Tool for Antarctic Research or Costly Waste?

Before the discovery of nuclear fission, the only power source capable of supplying reliable electrical energy in remote locations was a combustion engine. Because of its compact nature compared to a coal fired steam engine, the internal combustion engine was the power system of choice.

When engineers realized that a fission power plant could operate for years without new fuel, the people in charge of supplying fuel to remotely located combustion engines got very interested. If nuclear power was properly developed, it would eliminate the need to move millions of gallons of oil to remote areas of the globe. Putting a plant in Antarctica to supply the growing research effort there seemed like a natural way to put the new technology to the test.

When the plant for McMurdo Station was initially proposed, it was envisioned that it would be the first of a series of plants that could be delivered by air to remote sites, particularly other Antarctic research stations like Byrd and South Pole station.

Based on this criteria, PM-3A was designed in modules that were no larger than 30 feet long, 8 feet 8 inches square, and 30,000 pounds. These limits were based on the capacity of C-130 aircraft, which could be used to deliver similar plants to interior stations at a later time. The final plant design included 18 such modules for a total plant weight of less than 250 tons.

In comparison, a diesel engine providing 1800 kilowatts of electricity at a capacity factor of 70 percent would burn approximately 1100 tons of fuel each year.